


Dannymay 2020

by DriftingFandoms, SquishyGremlin (DriftingFandoms)



Series: Lyth's list of ever growing fics: Danny Phantom Edition [4]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Consort!Danny, Danny Phantom is Janus Phantom, Ghost King!Phantom, Hurt/Comfort, I hope i did the ending right, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Not Beta Read, Separate Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom, Void!Danny, danny dies, fake-halfas, minor Paulina bashing, some description of gore (science prompt), some swears
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:08:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24085630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DriftingFandoms/pseuds/DriftingFandoms, https://archiveofourown.org/users/DriftingFandoms/pseuds/SquishyGremlin
Summary: A 4-chapters fic that combined daily and weekly prompts. My first Dannymay contribution and I'm late to the party.Week 1: Daily Prompts: Eyes, Flowers, Reflection, Science, Moon, Stuck, Second chances (1 – 7 May). Weekly Prompt: ComfortWeek 2: Daily Prompts: Lost, Glow, Corruption, Doctor, Gloves, Regret, Breathe, Fave AU (8 – 15 May). Weekly Prompt: ColdWeek 3: Daily Prompts: Bones, Childhood, Horror, Doors, Sky, Ooze, Isolation, Lightning (16 – 23 May). Weekly Prompt: StarsWeek 4: Daily Prompts: Mask, Break, Strange, Buried, Diner, Heat, Family, Free Day (24 – 31 May) Weekly Prompt: Free Week
Relationships: Fenton/Phantom, Pitch Pearl - Relationship
Series: Lyth's list of ever growing fics: Danny Phantom Edition [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1723429
Comments: 4
Kudos: 38





	1. Week 1

**Author's Note:**

> Summary for this chapter: Phantom and Danny were dating, but then they weren’t. Phantom gets captured by the ghost hunters and got dissected. Danny managed a diversion and brings him to Frostbite. It ends in the happy ending
> 
> Again, in all of my AU where Phantom and Fenton are separate entities, Phantom’s first name is Janus. Also, I do not live in either the US or the UK so if some terms may be different  
> POV starts off following Phantom, then following Fenton. Tenses are not consistent and I also did my best to detect and edit my errors

_**Word Count:4205** _

Amity Park’s very own ghost hero was moping. Janus, more commonly known as Phantom, had been seen moping around the local park. He looked very much like a kicked puppy as he laid on the grass and looked at the sky. No one knew what he was thinking, maybe except one person.

_~Flashback Start~_

“ _You can’t keep being so reckless when fighting ghost! My parents nearly caught you again!”_

“ _I know babe, I know. I will-”_

“ _What happens if my parents actually caught you!? They already think you are doing some ghostly mind control into dating you and have been trying harder to hunt you down.” Danny sobbed, “I can’t lose you, Jan. I can’t. They are planning to make me watch as they pull you apart.”_

_Janus floated closer, ectoplasm still dripping from his wounds, and pulled his crying boyfriend into his embrace. He knew why his boyfriend was upset, a fight with Ember and Skulker, followed by being chased by the Jack and Maddie Fenton as they shouted expletives at him. Blasts of ectoplasm have clipped him multiple times. Eventually, he got away from the Fentons and hid away at Sam’s house to look at his wounds. He sent an update to Danny using his own handphone. The handphone that Danny had bought and further modified to work with ectoplasm._

_Danny let out a shuddering breath and brought Phantom back to reality. The ghost boy raised a hand and ran it through his boyfriend’s soft black hair. He could feel his core thrumming low, a noise he knew would calm his boyfriend. Danny pulled away from his embrace, wiping tears away from his eyes._

“ _I think we may need to take a break from each other. My parents won’t try to hunt you as much if they are more focus on ridding me of ectoplasm contamination.”_

“ _Wait, no-”_

“ _I’m sorry, Janus”_

_Danny stood up and walked away, equipping the specter deflector and walked into the house._

~Flashback End~

It has been a week since they ‘broke up’ and his fighting has gotten more brutal. No more witty one-liner, just straight to the point fire and capture. Rumours have spread in the Ghost Zone of his volatile mood and fewer ghosts have been appearing. The Box Ghost would surrender immediately after encountering him. Ember, dragging Skulker, even came to apologise for the fight. His allies, when Janus found himself in his Lair, have all tried to comfort him but to no avail.

Danny had said that day was true, the Fentons did not hunt him as much anymore since they were more focused on their youngest. However, from what he heard from Sam and Tucker, Danny was just as miserable as he was. Done with his patrol, he flew to the school, ice core dropping the overall temperature. He followed his ex and other two friends throughout the day, only leaving when his ghost sense alerted him of another ghost.

“Hey, guys? Do you feel like something is watching you?”

“Yes? But it disappears quick. Why?”

“I keep feeling someone is staring at me. And it stays, then it leaves, then it stays again. I think I’m going insane.”

“You think it’s Janus?”

Danny made a non-committal noise and unlocked his locker door. It slammed opened as icy stalks of roses and other flowers Danny do not recognise poured out, making tinkling sounds as they crash onto the floor tiles.

“I think it is Janus. The roses are self-explanatory. I assume this one should be hyacinths, which either means ‘I’m sorry, forgive me.’ or ‘let’s make peace’ depending on its colour, purple or blue. This one looks, like a carnation? And that one a Lily of the valley. Oh! And an orchid”

“And what do those mean? Oh great flower master Sam”

“Idiot boys. It means Phantom is saying he is sorry, please forgive him. He knows what he had done was wrong and willing to work past it or have a fresh start. Orchid, I assume its the white orchid, means sincerity so he is _really_ sorry. Carnation, ‘I’ll never forget you’. If you still don’t understand, it means he loves you and wants you back, moron”

“Okay, Sam. I get it. I get it. I’m just going to go to the washroom first. Same time at Sam’s house for movie night?”

Danny shut his locker and grabbed one of each ice flower, holding them together as a rough bouquet, and left for the washroom. Phantom floated at his spot, mood dampened severely after hearing those words.

“Phantom? You there, bro?”

Tucker was whispering while looking at his PDA. Phantom made himself know by making the leftover flowers disappear in puffs of chilly mist and dropping his invisibility slightly so only his glowing eyes can be seen by the other two.

“Yo, what happened? You and Danny were all chummy and lovey-dovey, then one day he tells us you two were ‘on a break’.”

“Was it the fight from a week ago? Where his parents nearly caught you?”

“Wait, what? When was this? Why did nobody tell me?”

“I did, Tucker, through the messaging app. Code Eagle?”

“Oh, right.”

“I am going to see Danny, talk to you whenever.”

The glowing green eyes winked away as the ghost became invisible and intangible. Janus flew to the washroom, core thrumming as he gets closer to Danny. Phasing pass the door, he saw Danny bent over the sink. He was rubbing water onto his red-rimmed eyes, shoulders shaking with the gasping. His love, his heart, was crying, and he desperately wanted to hold and comfort him. Janus floated behind him, dropping his invisibility and watched his ex through the mirror. Danny took one last shuddering breath and looked up, flinching as he found Janus staring at him through his reflection.

Janus floats on closer, to the pile of ice flowers beside Danny, and gave their reflection a sad smile. Lifting a hand above the flower, he called forth his ice powers and completed the bouquet by adding more flowers. Then, he apologised softly once more, gave Danny a salute and winked away from sight. This cycle continued for another week, one flower each day in Danny’s locker, fighting ghosts that still decide to make trouble in Amity Park, run away from the Red Huntress and the Fentons.

On the start of the next week, while Janus was flying back from another fight, the Red Huntress managed to seriously injure him with one of her blasters and the Fentons managed to capture him with one of their new net-like inventions. Electricity surged as he struggled to get free, pulling out screams of agony. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was his friends’ fearful expression and Danny running towards him.

When Janus came to, he found himself strapped to a cold steel slab, a gag set into his mouth, and a blinding light shining above him. He lifted his pounding head, gritting his gag at the pain, and took a look around. He was in the Fenton Works laboratory, a tray of surgical items lay beside him. Jack and Maddie were facing away from him, fiddling with something on their work table. He tried to activate his powers with no result, and he was afraid to struggle as it may make a sound and alert the scientists. Not that it works anyway as Maddie turned around and gave him a menacing smile.

“Look, Jack! Our specimen is awake! Now we just have to wait for Danny to come home, then we can begin the show.”

Janus stared at the Fentons, the sentence from weeks ago rang in his head “ _They are planning to make me watch as they pull you apart.”_ Are the Fentons truly insane enough to make their child watch as they torture and dissect his ex? A thumping noise echoed through the house, getting softer as the person ran to the second floor.

“Danno’s home! I’m itching to get started! Then we can have dinner!”

Janus struggled anew, desperate to escape. The Fentons laughed at his attempts as they left the lab. After a few minutes, he saw Danny poked his head through the door and snuck him. He made a sound, garnering his ex’s attention. Just he tried to run over, the lab door opened again and in walked the parents. Danny jumped into a small corner, away from his parents’ sight. Jack was pouting while Maddie patted his shoulder in comfort.

“Can’t believe Danny ran out after putting his bag down”

“That may be a good thing. After all, Danny is squeamish about blood and all things ghost. He may not like us forcing him to watch.”

Janus struggled further, knowing Danny was in the laboratory and will definitely be watching. Saliva dripped down his chin and tears rolled down his eyes as freedom seemed to fade away. From his peripherals, he could see Danny’s eye widen and tear up as he registered the scene.

“What an amazing discovery! We may need to take a deeper look at his mouth and eyes to see where this ectoplasm comes from Jack!”

_[Some description of gore, but I’m not very good. Read at your own discretion]_

Janus saw the two scientists put on scrubs and surgical gloves over their hazmat suit, and heard the clanging of the equipment on the metal trays. He shook his head, squeak and squealed, eyes pleading as he gazes at the two adults. Their grins were bright like the surgical light overhead, face covered in shadows, blinding him like the scalpel Maddie held in her hand. The knife grew closer, sharpened pointing at his eye. Janus wriggled and pressed himself back to the metal slab, voices becoming hoarse with screams he can’t quite hear through the pounding between his ears.

He felt the knife press under his eye, pushing harder until warm beads of ectoplasm rolled down his cheeks. The knife dragged along in their guided path. Was he still screaming? Why can’t he feel the pain? Why are they doing this? It went on for a while, Janus could feel them poking at his musculature and glands, murmuring something about ‘samples’ and ‘good find’. A collar around his neck sending jolt after jolt of electricity, locking his vocal muscles in place. He could not struggle, could not scream, even if his jaws were clamped open. He was shaking, he wanted this to end, even if it meant never seeing Danny again.

All his senses were focused on where they were jabbing and carving, his vision mostly covered in a layer of green. Pass the echoing drips of his ectoplasm onto the floor and the clanging the Fentons made, he could hear the quiet hitch and gasp from the corner. He jerked his head, as much as the shock collar allowed, ectoplasm poured out of his mouth and onto the floor. He turned towards the noise, pass the bowls that held his severed tongue and the many glands carved out, to where he knew Danny was hiding and crying away in shock. Then, the sound of something mechanised and there was pain. _So. Much. Pain._ His body seized and his head slammed back on the against his prison. Something was inside his chest. _Someone was inside his chest._ He felt the fingers wriggling, exploring. It felt so wrong. _It was wrong. HIS CORE! They were at his Core!_ It hurts, it hurts, _**IT HURTS**_! He saw something swing down _and heard his core shatter._

A beep in the ghost alarm pulled Jack and Maddie’s attention away from Janus. Throwing away the scrubs and cleaning away the ectoplasm from their experimentations, they took some weapons and hurriedly left the lab, leaving the ghost still gushing ectoplasm, chest cracked open and with a damaged core and Danny who had watched and heard every single thing. There was nothing, he felt nothing. Mustering the last of his strength, he mouthed the words before the world turned dark;

" _F̴̡̻̝͈̭̮̀̌̓͋͝͝ͅǫ̷̛̹̝͔̬͉̥̪̱͋̊̑̌̽̈́͠͝͝͠ŗ̴̛̱̹̞̼̺̮͚͂̏͋̎̎̈́̅͐̇̀̓g̴̢̩̪̲͙̙͛͋̆̔̓̎͒͘ĭ̴̧̧͚̰̺̭̞̯͉̟̞̬̤̳͌̔̉͋̊̄͑̄̊͑͐v̷̹̞̞̺͎̈͑̀͒̈́͒̒͋̓̂͘ę̷̤̲͍̟͔̻͎̜̾̈́ ̸̘̯̩̖̩̹̦͉͇̬̘͇͂̌̄̀̈̎̅̆̆̽̍͘̕͘͜͝m̸͔͖̣̪͔̘͇̋̒ḝ̸͖̝̋̋̀̄̽̃̕͘,̵̡̨̙̦̖͚̗̗͖̖̱̥̮̗̬̿̈́̆̈́̀̑̉̒̕̚͘ ̶̢̡͇̭͈͎͕̞͔̮̥̺̹̝̹͒m̸̡̧͕̗͈̣͕͉̝̟͌̅͆̓̓͒̈ͅy̸̡͑̂̓̈́̾͗̇͝ ̶̧̡̝͔̜̍̾n̸̼͇̗̖̏̑ö̷̩̬͔̲̬͕̲́͋̏͆v̸̮͗̇̾͊̈́̀̽͘ȁ̵̧̡̛̫̬̙̣̯̺̫̜͈̤̦͍̽̔͆̈̔̆̂̌̊̈́͐̕"_

**~~~~~** ** POV Switch ** **~~~~~~**

" _-my nova_."

“NO! NO! NO! PLEASE STAY AWAKE!”

Danny watched in horror as Janus’s eyes closed, and his core stopped humming, a serene smile on his flayed face. He quickly emptied the Fenton Thermos, that he had picked up as he and the rest of Casper High watched his parents drag their hero away, into the Ghost Zone. He sucked up Phantom and the removed remains into the emptied device, holding it close to his heart as he wailed. He threw himself into the opened portal, zooming through the empty expanse of green. He came to a screeching halt in the realm of Far Frozen, crashing into a council meeting. He was shaking, whether from the cold or exertion he didn’t know, as he clutched on tightly to the thermos holding Janus’s dissected remains. Frost gathered on his eyelashes and tears froze to his face, his body felt heated yet cold.

Frostbite stood up and walked to him, a servant rushing to drape a thick cloak over his shivering form. Danny saw, with unfocused and blurring vision, Frostbite’s mouth moving, but couldn’t hear a single word. He looked down and saw a furry paw reaching for the thermos and growled viciously at the servant. Danny’s head was turned as Frostbite’s ice arm took his chin, and made their eyes meet. The roaring between his ears died down at Frostbite’s gentle gaze and caught some words like surgery, recovery, thermos. The yeti leader carried the young Fenton and brought him to the infirmary cum operating rooms. Safely placed on one of the ridiculously soft beds, the smell of the lavender incense made the distraught boy drowsy. Coupled with the warm chocolatey malt drink in his stomach, Danny unwillingly fell asleep.

Some murmuring flitted into focus, as Danny sluggishly waded through the sleeping fog in his mind and into consciousness. He jumped up, fully awake, and panicked when he could not feel the cold steel of the thermos against his torso. Furry paws grappled with his flailing limbs as he shouted for the thermos, for his Janus. Frostbite came into his field of vision, one claw pressed on Danny’s chest, keeping him down. The yeti placed an icy finger against his furry lips and pointed to the bed beside the young human. Janus Phantom was lying there, unconscious to the world around him. Tubes pumping ectoplasm in and out his system, lines and stitches covered his face and bare torso. Danny could feel himself crying again as he reached out towards his ex, the one that still holds his heart.

“Young Danny, what happened? Why was the Great One brought to us in such a horrific condition?”

Frostbite’s voice was soft, but it still belied a wave of anger. Danny took one look at the gentle yeti leader and cried harder. Between sobs, he explained their fight, the flowers in the locker and his parents eventually capturing Janus and dissecting him. His parents left the lab when their tracker alerted them of a ghost in the town. He then used the thermos to contain Janus and flew here immediately, because he had nowhere else to go.

“Please wake up. Please be okay. Please, please, please. I’m sorry, Jan. I love you. Please come back to me, Jan. _Please_ ”

Danny intertwined his fingers with Janus’s right hand, pressing kisses onto each digit. The human kept sobbing, kept apologising, kept kissing on any available skin not held together by stitches. His tears froze as they fell to the floor, shattering into shards like ice. Subconsciously, Danny heard the yetis leave the room, leaving him alone with Janus. He placed the limp hand on his head and hiccuped. He cried until he fell asleep once more, mind plagued with terrible scenarios.

There was someone carding their fingers through his hair. Who was it? Why was it so familiar? Voices? Who do they belong to? Danny groaned and opened his eyes. Sam, Tucker, Jazz And Frostbite stood at the foot of the bed, all smiling at him, except Sam, she was smirking at him with her phone up. There was something on his head, it was heavy. He struggled to sit up in the chair, mild dehydration hitting him with how many tears he had shed. Something tipped and fell from his head, which he surprisingly caught, a flower crown made of ice. He recognised the flowers as Janus’s gift through the week of their ‘break’, he could feel heat gathering at his cheeks and eyes, but he can’t seem to bring forth any tears.

“Heya, Danny-baby. Heard you missed me.”

Danny snapped his head to the voice, the voice he thought he would never hear again. Janus was awake and sitting up. The stitches were already removed, though the tubes remained. Scars crisscrossed his chest and face, healing and fading away by the minute. A hand gripped his shoulder and a bottle appeared in front of him, he looked back at his sister, holding the bottle, a silent order for him to drink in her eyes. He grasped the bottle and took a sip. His favourite energy drink, though heavily diluted, rushed into his mouth, his body greedily absorbing every drop of fluid like a drought ravage land during a rainstorm. He took gulp after gulp until he emptied the bottle. He felt significantly better, but it cannot beat the unadulterated elation and relief he felt at seeing Janus smiling at him, whole and hale. 

Danny crawled onto the bed, tucking his head into the crook of Janus’s neck, wrapping his arms tight around the love he had nearly lost. He took an unsteady breath, can’t help believing that Janus was okay. He pressed a kiss to the other’s lips and brought their foreheads together.

“I’m sorry. Forgive me. Please take me back”

“What do you have to be sorry for, my darling? I should be asking you for forgiveness.”

“If I was faster if I tried harder. You would not have been hurt.”

“Hush, hush. I’m okay, you brought me to Frostbite. I’m okay. You did save me, love.”

Janus cupped his tear-stained face and brought an ear to his chest, his core was thrumming at a frequency Danny recognises as happiness. The human hiccuped, his own chest flooded with warmth as he got up and pressed another kiss onto his significant other.

“Does this mean I can have a second chance?”

“Speaking of second chances. Danny, there is something I need to say to you. It’s about mom and dad.”

~ Time Skip, Comfort for everyone~

Jack and Madeline Fenton adults were run out of Amity Park when the video of them experimenting on Phantom surfaced. Their beloved daughter, Jasmine Fenton, legally an adult, viciously brought them to court. Accounts of child endangerment, neglect and the words spoken in the gruesome video, about how they wanted Danny there to watch, and Jazz with her bachelor’s degree in Psychology, resulted in her winning custody of her brother and a restraining order on both of their parents. Vladimir Masters stood by Jazz’s side, spitting spiteful and poisonous remarks at the woman he supposedly loved and the idiot of a man he hated since the accident. The community also pitched in to help, testifying against the infamous hunter-scientist and their behaviour.

Vlad, now a change of heart, supported the two siblings as best he could, finally taking and embracing the role of their godfather. Jazz, with funding and support by Vlad Masters, tore down the Fenton Works building and built new her psychologist office and the new house. The laboratory was also scrubbed clean, dismantled, and had a whole new look. Danny and Janus took more time before they reappeared back in public, both having to go through heavy therapy and additional core-therapy for Janus. The ghosts that appeared during Janus’s absence made themselves at home, living peacefully with the humans, some even remembered snippets of their previous life. Johnny 13, once known as Johnathan Manson, reunited with his family and sister. Laura Foley, formerly Lunch Lady, lived with her son and family, happily cooking and feeding them. Ember conquered the world of music. Walker and his goons patrolling alongside with Amity Park Police Department, keeping crime to an all-time low.

Everyone smiled and waved cheerily as they finally saw Janus zipping along his route, scars merely faint lines on his face. On occasions, the citizens would see him and Danny on their date, laughing happily and still very much in love. Looking like there was nothing in the could harm them, except for the slight squeezing of their entwined hands, and the occasional teary frown exchanged. 

Four years have passed since then, Danny managed to graduate from Casper High, a year later than Sam and Tucker. Every night he spent in Janus’s embrace, nightmare lessening as time went on. However, tonight was special, the anniversary where they had gotten together, and Danny had planned a surprise for Janus. He waited at the park, the setting sun casting a blend of pink, purple and orange. He checked his phone, smiling at the love heart his boyfriend had sent, if everything went well tonight, he would have a fiance instead.

A drop in temperature signified _his_ arrival, the full moon beaming silvery light upon the empty park. A gentle breeze brought with it a subtle scent of flowers. Someone gripped his arm and twirled him around, covering both his eyes with a really cold hand. Another arm snaked around his waist and pulled him closer till they are touching chest to chest. Cold breath blew against Danny’s cheeks and lips, he could not help but grin.

“Guess who.”

“Hello, starling. I know it’s you.”

“Boo~, no fun, my dear supernova.” Janus removed the hand covering his eyes, “There are the two brightest blue that I love so very much”

Danny placed a hand on the back of his lover’s neck and pulled him in for a tender and deep kiss. The world blurred, there was only the both of them in the current moment. They kissed even when his lungs burned for oxygen, not quite wanting the moment to end. He broke the kiss and knocked their forehead together gently, giving one last peck against his lips before pulling away.

“I must say, my love, you are looking awfully nice tonight. Nicer than our usual anniversary.”

“You are looking handsome yourself, all dressed in a vest and all.”

There was some strange rustling from the bushes that drew their attention, but they elected to ignore it, preferring to relishing in the other’s presence. Of course, that was not the only strange thing that happened. Little blob ghosts floated around and glowed, flowers bloomed unnaturally fast around their feet, a soft melody followed the gentle breeze. Numerous blue mist escaped from Janus’s lips, and he frowned.

“I am detecting Ember, Johnny and Kitty in the area. I’ll go ask what they want, then we can enjoy our anniversary.”

“It’s alright Jan, I know why they are here.”

Janus looked at him in confusion. Danny knew it was his cue, he took a deep breath.

“Janus Phantom, you are the most reckless, self-sacrificing and the dumbest ghost I have ever met.”

There was an audible sound of skin smacking against skin coming from the bushes. Danny could see his lover’s face fall, and raised a hand, silencing him

“Seven years ago, the portal accident brought us together. Then another portal accident tore us apart. Even then, we were always together, even if you had to stay in the Ghost, you still always came back to me. Four years ago, I nearly lost you permanently all because of my selfishness.” He took a shaky breath, “That moment terrified me, losing you terrified me. I never want a world where you are not by my side, nor am I at yours. I love you, from the bottom of my heart, more than the stars and space I have always rambled about. I had planned this for a while now and there is no better time than now.”

Danny took a step back, took out a small velvet box and got down on one knee. “Will you, Janus Phantom, Saviour of the Ghost Zone and apprentice to Clockwork, do me the honour of making me the happiest person alive and dead, by being mine and let me spend both my life and afterlife with you?”

“You bastard. You stole my thunder. Yes! I will be yours! Is that a Prismastic stone?”

“Yes? I told Frostbite my plan and he gave this to me, had been waiting for this moment’ he said.”

Janus pulled out a velvet box of his own and knelt in front of Danny, a polished moonstone sits atop a silver band with jade inlay. His own ring to Janus was a dual-tone gem set on a carbon ring with silver inlays. Suddenly, Sam’s voice shouted from somewhere in the bushes.

“Just say yes, kiss each other so I can go home!”

The newly engaged couple broke out into laughs. Then, shouted yes and exchanged their rings. Friends and acquaintances, alive and dead, ran towards the couple and cheered happily. Janus and Danny exchanged kisses once more under the light of the full moon, then whispered to each other:

“To our new beginnings”


	2. Week 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny dies after pushing Paulina away from falling debris, a corrupted money-hungry doctor was involved. Phantom goes into a coma to heal his cracked core. ice powers blanketing the ghost zone and the mortal world (think Arendelle eternal winter). Fenton reappears in the Ghost Zone after a while. They rule Ghost Zone together as king and consort.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I am fan-freaking overdue. Hope yall enjoy it nonetheless.
> 
> So favourite AUs: Void!Danny, Ghost King and a slight sprinkling of Danielle seeing Danny and Phantom as her ghost parents.
> 
> Word Count: 4,228

“HEY! GET OUT OF THE WAY!”

“DANNY!!”

A scream echoed through the battlefield as the crumbling building crashed atop of the youngest Fenton. Janus Phantom, local ghost hero, grasped in the giant clawed hand of his enemy, unleashed a wail of agony as he watched the scene. His core pulsed repeatedly, bringing forth a blizzard in the gymnasium. Ecto-charged ice raced up the enemy’s arm, quickly freezing the giant ghost and spreading a thin sheet of ice along the varnished wooden floor. He broke free, shattering his foe entirely, and raced to the pile of debris. He phased in with intangibility to rescue Danny.

It was silent in the gymnasium, as the spectators waited. Paulina sat covered in dust by the debris, in shock after being pushed out of harm’s way. Sam and Tucker scrambled to Phantom as he emerged from the floor, carrying Danny in his arm. The ghost boy looked manic, pupils so minute against the iridescent green eyes, usually cloud-like white hair flickering like smoke. White gloves and boots stained red and green, and still dripping with blood and ectoplasm. Everyone screamed at the sight of Danny, Tucker took one look promptly vomited on the floor, Sam immediately screamed at Janus to fly to the hospital.

The A&E doctors took one look at the panicking ghost boy, and the bleeding boy cradled in his arms and went into a frenzy. Patients scrambled out of the way for the town’s hero and the gurney. He was forced to stop outside the operating hall and paced -the floating version- around, slowly spread ice over the floor and up the walls. A few minutes later, the Fentons come running with Sam and Tucker. Jazz had to pry the weapons away from her hysterical mother, reminding her that they are in a hospital. Jack was just seated on the uncomfortable plastic seats. Sam and Tucker were clasping hands and praying desperately. An hour later, some of the schoolmates came to the hospital. When Sam saw Paulina and her A-listers walking over, freshly cleaned and unscathed, her vision went red. The goth girl launched herself and tackled the queen bee of the school.

“YOU!!! DANNY WOULD NOT BE IN THIS SITUATION!!! YOU AND YOU STUPID NEED BE A FUCKING DAMSEL FOR PHANTOM!! MY BEST FRIEND IS IN THERE!!!”

The Latina did not say a thing, eyes overflowing with tears. Dash and Kwan had to pry the crying Sam away from their friend, which got Tucker and Jazz to attack the other two.

“Why are you even here, Dash!?”

“You don’t even care about Danny! ALL YOU DO IS BULLY US! AND NOW YOU ARE HERE TO MOCK US WITH YOUR PRESENCE?!”

“GO! SHOO! You are not welcomed here”

The three newcomers, situated at a safe distance, looked at Phantom only to flinch at the intensity of the glare. Phantom floated over to them, a furious expression on his face.

“The irony that my self-proclaimed _biggest_ fans are the ones to bring me my worst pain. If Danny does not make it out alive and well, Amity Park **will suffer** thanks to your fangirling, Sanchez. Now go, before I do something I will regret.”

Just then, a surgeon walked out of the operating room with a blank look, still in her bloody scrubs and gloves. She looked at the sea of visitors and her face broke out into a small uneasy smile. 

“Mr Phantom has filled us in on what had happened. We have managed to stabilise him for now, but due to severe condition he was brought in, the next two weeks are critical. I suggest you pray and prepare for the worse. Mr Fenton has been moved to the ICU.”

The surgeon, Dr Andrea according to the name tag, then took her leave. The visitor left in various states of tears.

Through the first week, Janus sat invisibly in the corner of the ICU, keeping vigil on Danny, only leaving to fight ghosts that decide to wreak havoc on the town. There was no witty one-liner, nor was there any patience. The town hero was brutal in those fights, capturing the ghosts and returning back to his little spot in the ICU room. Some of the ghost enemies used Danny’s name as a taunt during some of the fights, which made Phantom’s temper flare like a thunderous blizzard, their remains nothing more but an ectoplasmic puddle on the floor. Amity Park was permanently trapped in some eternal winter, even though it had only just ticked over to autumn.

One day into the second week, Skulker floated around terrorizing the citizens and shouting Danny’s name as a taunt. A loud roar sounded and a blur of black zoomed straight into the hunter, sending him onto the ground. The residents and the ghost, Skulker, were shocked by the change in appearance. Gone was with the adorably familiar ghost boy, who glowed like a full moon at night and waved with a greeting smile. A ghastly creature floated in his place, rounded ears now end in a point, neon green puppy dog eyes transformed into toxic green snake-like slits. Fluffy cloud-white hair turned smokey grey with wispy ends, flawless tanned skin a worrying shade of blue. The white moon-lit glow was dimmer, almost non-existent. Janus bared his teeth at Skulker, exposing sharp fangs and forked tongue to the increasingly frightened residents. Janus now towered over the hunter, board shoulder and muscled limbs that tore the exoskeleton with ease. Skulker had no chance, fleeing away in his natural form, back into the Ghost Zone.

Once done, Janus flew away to take his place inside Danny’s ward when he stumbled in on the Fentons, Tucker, Sam, Dr Andrea and another person having an argument outside the room.

“That is too expensive! You can’t do this!”

“I’m sorry Dr Fenton, I have named my price. You asked for people to save your son by any means necessary, and I answered. I am the best in my field. If you don’t wish to pay, you can say goodbye to your son.”

“Best of your field?! You are from the black market!”

“Be quiet, child! I have named-

Janus released a deep growl after speaking, scaring everyone in the vicinity. He dropped the invisibility, showing his new form to the people to the hospital. The ghost boy looked at the ‘doctor’, who was rapidly paling and trembling at the sight of his new form. A deep voice rumbled from his vocal cords as he spoke.

“So noisy. Danny needs peace and quiet, you loathsome speck. Leave”

“You! You will regret this!” The ‘doctor’ squeaked and ran away. 

“Jan...us? What...what happened to you?”

Janus turned his gaze back at the group, looking sad at the various reaction pointed at him. He turned away from the group, not answer Sam’s question, and entered Danny ward, taking a seat on one of the chairs. He interlaced their fingers and made a low mournful sound that echoed throughout the room. 

“ _I’m sorry Danny. Please get better. I miss your laugh and your voice. I’ll do better next time, I swear. Please wake up soon. I have so many things I want to do with you, Amica Mea.”_

Three days later, everyone could feel hope blooming as Danny went pass the two weeks without any issue, even squeezing and twitching in response to them. Something went wrong two days into the third week, Danny went into a seizure and flatlined in the night, Dr Andrea and her team of experts rushed in and pushed everyone out of the room, going as far as to set a small ecto shield to push Janus out of the hospital altogether. The team tried to revive him, pushing him into the operating theatre once more when they found a potentially fatal blood clot in the brain. Something snapped inside his ghost core and a cry of anguish echoed through the state. Danny was gone.

[Amity Park’s POV]

On the day of his funeral, dark grey clouds heavy covered the sun. All of Casper High and their families were in attendance for the day, as well as some of the Amity Park residents. Everyone was dressed in various degrees on black, seated on uncomfortable plastic chairs. Some were in genuine mourning, with tear streaks and ruined make-up; Others were attracted over for with the drama, starring at the mourning family and the ghosts around the coffin. The attendees watched as a screaming Maddie and Jack Fenton pointed ecto-weaponry at the few ghosts that came, all they have seen terrorising amity park, except for the yeti-like fellow. Dark dull eyes with no spectral glow, Janus Phantom floated near the coffin, some cloth clutched in an arm and another hand on a little ghost girl that looked **so much** like he once did, a daughter maybe? Can ghosts even have children? The mini-Phantom girl curled above Danny’s half-open coffin, familiar green eyes brimming with tears as she let out sobs and wave upon wave of icy air and sparks. The whine of their ecto-gun died with the thunder and the sound of the Fenton daughter’s anger.

“WOULD YOU TWO JUST SHUT UP! NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF YOU TWO DIDN’T BUILT THE FUCKING PORTAL IN THE FIRST PLACE!” The daughter heaved, “YOUR STUPID INANE OBSESSION WITH GHOST AND YOUR USELESS INVENTIONS KILLED MY BROTHER!”

“Jazzy-”

“NO! YOU TWO KILLED DANNY, NOT THE GHOSTS! NOW SHUT UP AND SIT DOWN! AMITY PARK WAS A NICER PLACE WITHOUT YOUR STUPID PORTAL. I am _sick_ and _tired_ of your voices, saying the ghosts are at fault when it was _YOU_ that brought them here.”

“Jasmine dear-”

“ _Sit. Down. And. Be. Quiet. You too, Vlad Masters._ ”

Those words, paired with the hateful glare and a snarl, from their usually kind princess, shut the parents’ mouth, and they obediently kept the weaponry and sat down at their seats. The funeral attendant came up to the podium, asking for peace and started the sad ceremony. Close friends and family went up to the coffin and said their piece to the fallen child, placing flowers and little gifts to help the youngest Fenton ‘pass on’ peacefully. The young ghost girl, no longer sobbing, was still curled on the coffin, her whole demeanour reminded the residents of a frustrated cat. There were tears still flowing from her eyes, but her face showed anger, as she stared the people. Her spectral tail twitching and curling, baring her baby fangs and let out a hiss when some students from Casper High tried to come closer for their turn.

A small green blast, from the floating hero’s smoking finger gun, hit the back of her head. The mini-phantom girl pouted and turned away. The attendees could see the young Latina and blonde boy go starry-eyed then crestfallen as the hero ‘tsk’-ed at them, which is a peculiar behaviour from the hero. He said a few words to the coffin, in that strange echoey language the ghosts have, bent into the coffin - _did he just kiss him? And saying sorry?_ \- and gingerly placed in the strange cloth he was holding, then floated away to a distance. The mini-phantom perked up, created some small ice sculptures into the coffin and followed the hero - _could they be siblings? They seriously look so alike._ \- The ceremony came to a finale, as the closed coffin holding Danny Fenton, a 17-year-old robbed too early of life, and his gifts were lowered into the grave. The white tombstone, with swirling green accents and strange unreadable symbols, read:

In Loving Memory of

Danny Fenton

1990 – 2007

A Devoted Son, Brother & Friend

M̬̰̲̩͆̓͋͘a̰̬̭͔͂̉͌̈ÿ̹̩̖̠͗̒͘ ͖̹̳̃͌̾ẘ͖̰͔̕e̛̗͎͍͂͌ ̤͕̩̬͌̑͌̈m̯̮͙͚̋͒̐̀e͖͚̟̼̒̈́̈͊è͈͉̭̽t͇̦͋͋̌͟ ̛̳̭̖̈͂̚͢ą͍̟̾̈͛g̢͎̠͉͌̃̽̌a̢͍̠̎̃î̢̛͍͖̖̲̉̽̐ṋ̡̛̮̹͋̀̇,̼̞̿̽͢͠ ̜̙̙̪̇̍̽M̖̩̙͇͐͑͋̕y̢̞͇͔̫̍̎̅̊̚ ͚̯͎̆̊L͉̰̭̍͒͗õ̗̩̖̎͛v͙͍͈̘̝̋͂͋̒͘ė̫͕̠̬̉͠ 

As throngs of people began to leave the cemetery, Phantom floated over to the crowd, mentioning that he had something to say. He closed his eye, seemingly trying to centre his thoughts, and said:

“To the residents of Amity Park, now that the reason why I protect this town is gone, there is no need for me to prolong my stay. As I promised to young Sanchez in the hospital, if he is gone I will leave. Thank you for making my stay here tolerable.”

Before the people could even finish processing the sentence, the two -let’s _just call them siblings-_ ghost sibling floated and winked out of their view. The young Latina screeched and ran after them, begging them to return. But they never did, and the relationship between Jasmine and her parents never seemed to be repaired, as she immediately went for a college overseas and never called back. The eccentric couple also lost their drive for ghosts, shutting down their portal and inventing equipment that drastically helped the medical industry. Ghosts were still seen here and there, some scaring the people, some just minding their own business. A new hunter came into rank, The Red Huntress as she was now known, and the winter cold never left the town.

Danielle Phantom flew through the Ghost Zone, heading straight for the lair housing her temporary care-takers, and her father-figure, who had put himself in a comatose state with the help of Nocturn. She thought back to the last time she saw Janus, during the day of Danny’s funeral.

_[Flas_ _hback Start]_

“Why _. You promised you would spend time with me. Why do you have to go, Danny? Who is going to stabilise me? Where do I go now?”_

Th _e young halfa sobbed, curling above the coffin. She tuned out the screaming ghost hunting adults, perfectly okay with being shot if it meant bringing her cousin -brother, father-figure- back to life, and the subsequent shouting from Jasmine. Her core and powers felt unstable, the usual thrumming she felt was replaced with the painful pulses. Ice began to cover the coffin cover, spreading out from where she was curled. Danielle continued to sob, even when she felt Janus’s hand on her back. She could feel her core settling, absorbing the ectoplasm her other father-figure was giving out from his cracked core as if telling her to be at ease. Always a protector, just like Danny, but Danny is gone. She let out another round of wails, weaving her pain into her voice and powers before the sobbing gave way to sniffling and teary glances._

D _anielle watched as people came closer, igniting a fire to protect Danny’s corpse, bearing generic gifts and spilling out even more generic and unfeeling words of mourning. She saw the bitch walk up to the coffin with her blonde boy toy. The gall of her, Danielle wanted to make her scream in pain and mar that oh-so flawless skin she was so proud of. Freaking bitch was empty-handed too. She hissed at the Latina, making sure to show off her new fangs, then hissed when a small ecto-ray hit the back of her head. She turned to the perpetrator and pouted, though smiled internally when Janus tsk-ed at the blondie and the bitch._

“ _Ellie, behave. Let’s present the gifts and let others have their turn, no matter how insincere they are.”_

“ _Okay.”_

_Danielle watched as tears flowed from the once acidic green eyes of her ghostly parent, according to her core. The tears freezing into crystal droplet, never melting in the heat of the mortal realm. Janus was gentle, as he phased a soft knitted scarf around Danny’s neck and the knitted gloves under the corpse’s -no, Danny’s- limp hands. He placed a soft kiss on the glossed lips and whispered:_

“ _You were always shivering when I’m around you. The scarf and gloves were supposed to be my gift for Christmas, and I worked really hard on them, practically making the Far Frozen Yetis bald for their fur. But that is all for nought huh, my nova? Rest well, my dear.”_

_Hearing that, Danielle wanted to cry again, but she has run dry of tears. She watched Janus floated away towards Frostbite and the other allies -oh, so that’s why some of them have bald patches-. The youngest halfa turned back to Danny, looking so peaceful like he was actually sleeping instead of dead. She created some ice sculptures, just like how Janus and Frostbite taught her, of Cujo, of Sam, Tucker and Jazz, her and Janus and all their allies. Each sculpture gingerly arranged in the coffin, then she flew after her father-figure to watch the proceedings from afar. It was the first time she saw Sam -headstrong, independent, proud Sam- sob so loudly and in a crowd; It hurt to hear the wails increase in volume as the closed coffin was lowered into the grave._

_The funeral was over, she felt numb like all her senses were covered with something. Like how Janus no longer glow due to his cracked core. Even though hearing her father no longer protecting Amity Park is a surprise, everything felt so muffled and wrong now that Danny is gone. Janus called her over and teleported both of them to the Ghost Zone, the other ghosts had already left before the ghostly hero’s little declaration. They flew over to Nocturn’s domain of Eternal Sleep, she waited outside as Janus had a talk with the being of sleep and dreams. Once both ghosts appear, they flew over to the Far Frozen. On the way, Janus explained that he needed to go into a coma so that his core could potentially heal, but since he is the first ghost to have his core cracked without immediately destabilizing, no one could know whether this method would work. The Frostbite and his Yetis were already preparing the room for his ‘rest’ and they would be the ones to continue her ghost lessons and controlling her powers. Apparently, they are continuing to research ways of stabilising her forms, from the compiled reports and samples from him and Danny._

_Once they were in Far Frozen, Janus placed a kiss on her forehead and gave her a small smile, then left with Nocturn and Frostbite. The other Yetis showed her where she would stay for the foreseeable future. No one saw him ever again, a strange seal appearing at the entrance of the cave blocking all ghost and humans, Sam and Tucker tried, from entering. Even Clockwork and other Primordial ghosts could not enter the place. ‘Only the chosen one can enter’ the seal was written._

[Flashback End]

It has been two years, according to the still very icy human realm, since that day, and she had grown significantly more powerful with the teachings. Her form has filled out significantly to reflect her new power level, with some new clothes to match. She hoped Janus would wake soon since he needs to take the position of Ghost King before Plasmius takes it for his own selfish needs. A ripple in the Ghost Zone, bringing forth commotion in the various lairs. A powerful ghost was forming, though there was something familiar about the essence. More violent ripples raced through the Zone, coming from Nocturn’s domain. Danielle held tightly to her package of royal regalia and raced over to Eternal Sleep. 

Nocturn was floating outside of his lair, surrounded by his dream weavers and other ghosts who were drawn in by the power.

“Ah, Princess. How nice to see you.”

“Not Princess yet, Nighty. Janus isn’t king yet. What is happening.”

“I do not have a clue, but my weavers and I were ejected out of the domain.”

“Ejected? Let’s hope this ghost is a good one, then. With how powerful this one seems.”

“Indeed, Princess Danielle.”

Danielle wanted to rebuke but opted for a sigh when she saw the Primordial ghost grinning at her. She watched in amazement as a black cocoon, speckled like stars in the night, formed above the domain. The was a pulsating glow around it and the black tendrils that emerged and connected together in a form of tail. Then, it sped past the growing crowd like a shooting star. Judging by their location, it was either going to Long Now or Far Frozen. Her eyes contacted with Nocturn’s, it seemed they were thinking of the same thing. She used The Voice, a new power that was unlocked after hearing she could be crowned as Princess and scattered the crowd while Nocturn had his weavers go back to what they were doing. They gave each other a nod, and raced to the potential locations, her to Far Frozen, Nocturn to Long Now.

On her highway to the icy tundras, it was as if her core was a fish snagged on a hook. It tugged at her, then immediately pulled her over to… her lair? Why is it pulling her to her and Janus’s combined lair? Curiosity piqued, she followed her core’s instinct and went for her home, pushing the cocoon and the Far Frozen to the back of her mind. Once Danielle reached a massive palace standing instead of the lair she remembers, _-that’s not her home, where is it. Wait a minute, her core is syncing with the giant house. Well, that’s new. Papa isn’t going to be happy.-_ she saw the cocoon rooting itself at the front gate - _Sweet swirly Milky Way, the gate is gigantic, Papa is definitely not going to be happy._ \- The Princess-to-be floated closer, clutching tightly to her package of now rumpled clothing, and saw the cocoon crack open and engulfed her vision with blinding white. She recoiled, releasing the package, and rubbed at her eyes, maybe also cursed very loudly.

“Ellie?”

She squinted past the sunspots and glares, to the familiar voice that said her nickname. She heard a chuckle then something covered her eyes and was brought away soon after. Danielle stared at the newcomer, where had she seen him before? Then everything clicked together when the newcomer gave her a smile, a very familiar smile. It was Danny! Danny was here! Though he looked _very_ different now, it was him nonetheless. He was wearing the knitted Yeti-fur scarf! And holding the gloves! She pulled him into a crushing hug and cried, hard.

When were they manoeuvred into sitting at the edge of the now larger now she did not know. All she could feel was the _softness of the scarf;_ _Danny holding her; Danny stroking her back; little figures were moving around his new cloak; DannyishereDannyishereDannyishere_. She wiped away the tears and floated away from the embrace, intending to take a good look at the new ghostly Danny. She circled him, taking in as much detail as possible, in case this was just a dream.

This new Danny looked to be much taller than when he died, though he will still be shorter than Janus and definitely not as muscle-packed. His attire was not the suit from the funeral nor the hospital gown he died in. His top half was a white long-sleeved shirt underneath a light purple vest thing, with the buttons more towards the right than the centre. His bottom half was a spectral tail with blends of purples, pinks and blues, and glittering dots. just like the Space he loved so much. Danielle noted that his hands were also the same as the tail. Completing the look was a long cloak-cape thing, connected by something but it was currently covered by the scarf. There were also little constellations moving around the cloak-cape, and they looked very much like the sculptures she placed into the coffin. His hair was slightly more purple than black, and the freckles were practically glowing from under his skin, His ears were pointed like hers and Janus and his eyes. Black sclerae and galaxy-shape irises stared back at her, and yet, still held a warmth that was unlike the cold expanse of space. He let out another chuckle when she suddenly decided to poke and prod at him.

“Yes, I’m really here. Are you done? Where’s Jan?”

Oh Ancients, Papa! She quickly explained the coma and the sealed cave. Danny, still sitting at the edge, held a hand to his core as she rambled. Where was her package? Pandora will destroy her if she had lost it. She looked around wildly and was about to ask Danny when she saw him holding the package, which prompted another hug. She tugged at Danny’s arm, telling him they have to go to the Far Frozen because maybe he was the chosen one to wake Papa up. They made it to Far Frozen in record speed, barging past the Yetis and reaching the sealed cave. Danny laid a purple hand onto the words, then disappeared into a pile of stardust. Before she could respond, the cave exploded, raining rocks and peddles onto the shield she instinctively brought up. Janus, now in the form matching to hers but still way taller, and Danny walked out hand in hand and smiling. Danielle, the Yetis, Clockwork and Nocturn, and the many other allies cheered.

[Epilogue: In Amity Park]

Dawn broke across human town, residents waking up and going through their various routines before starting their day officially. The people were surprised once they walked out of their houses, all geared up in their winter clothes. The temperature was up, as typical of the Summer heat, and the snow that had permanently covered their streets were finally melting. The townsfolk took a collective breath and cheered

“SUMMER BREAK TIME!!”

When Sam, Tucker and Jazz woke to a message from Danielle, it was as if new life was breathed into them, as they smiled once more, for the first time since Danny’s passing. As shown in the message was the three words ‘ _HE IS HERE!_ ’ and a photo of Janus, now crowned King of the Ghost Zone, dipping Danny in a kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have two versions for Week 3. I may post both *shrugs*


	3. Week 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The students of Casper High have been brought away to a camp Macabre, near Lake Eerie. What is a ghost child doing here? 
> 
> Bittersweet ending. Some OCC-ness. Potential triggers -- Child abuse, Bodily fluids. But I will try to be as vague as I can be (AKA direct but not much else details.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, in all of my AU where Phantom and Fenton are separate entities, Phantom’s first name is Janus. Also, I do not live in either the US or the UK so if some terms may be different.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ POV: Danny ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Uggghhh, why do we have to go to this stupid camp. When we are Juniors. And in the summer.”

Groaning sounded echoed as the probably speeding bus hit another bump on the road, some retching could also be heard.

“Do... you think we can transform and just fly there?”

“With Lancer looking back to check on the back, no way. Ugghhh, but I want to so bad.”

“Call Phantom and bring up your suit?”

“That’s gonna make me feel worse later.”

“Oof, hand me a bag, I’m gonna puke.”

“WELCOME TO CAMP MACABRE, BOYS AND GIRLS! YOUR PERSONAL FUN TIME FOR THE NEXT FOUR DAYS!”

Their bus came to the screeching halt, drifting into the parking spot. The students stumbled out, groaning in various shades and pallid and greenish hues. Some students managed to walk a short distance away before puking out whatever was left in their stomachs; Others crumpled to the burning floor dirt floor and heaved. Danny invisibly phased out of the other side of the bus, and floated to the floor, gently depositing his two sick friends. Even with the world spinning around, the ghost boy could see Tucker’s usual chocolate skin being a few shades lighter and Sam was dry heaving by the back wheels.

“Okay students, come - _coughs_ \- pick up your bags from the bus and we can be on our way. Chop chop!”

More intelligible sounds, a quite a few ‘Nos’, emerged as the students shakily got up to their feet and dragged themselves over to the bus and retrieved their cargo. Then they dragged their feet over to the camp entrance. Exhausted from the travel, the Juniors of Casper High were greeted by the Camp Counsellor twins Dean and Elena. They were split into two groups and given a small generic tour by each of the siblings. After getting acquainted with the various sleeping spots, the student body was split into groups of three students per tent and dumped their items into their tents. Then, the Juniors gathered in the combined Main and Mess hall to have a small tea break and have a proper introductory session about the campsite by the Counsellors. While nibbling on his little tea cakes, Danny was moping about the fact he was placed with Kwan and Wes. Four days and three night with Kwan Xing _[because it sounds similar to 关心 __(_ _guānxīn) which means Care, Concern, etc.]_ and Wesley Weston, in the same tent, and as a group for all of the camp activities.

“So Fenton-”

“Wes, be quiet, please. Let me mope.”

”No, can you even be here? Amity is your lair, right? What happens if there is a ghost there and you are here?”

“Wes, shut up.”

“Yeah, Wes. What could Fenton do? He runs from ghosts!”

“Gee thanks, Kwan.”

“OKAY NOW! TIME FOR THE RULES! LISTEN UP CAMPERS”

“Oh shit, what did I miss?”

“Just about everything?”

“First rule! Lights out at 11pm, that means no more wandering around. Everyone must be in their tents, we **will** be checking each tent. No swapping either, we will know. Got it? IS THAT CLEAR PEOPLE?”

“CRYSTAL CLEAR!”

“Second rule! No bullying of--”

This new counsellor, whatever his name was, was annoying him and his moping. Just then icy blue mist escaped the hunter teen’s mouth. A ghost, here at the camp? Danny looked around the combined Main and Mess Hall but detected nothing out of the ordinary. He directed his gaze to the forest and connected eyes with.... a child? Two sources of heat encroached into his personal bubble, Kwan and Wes sat beside him - _why are they seating so close?_ \- and stared at the child too.

‘Woah, what was that? That looked like a child, but the skin is all blue and melty.”

“Could it be a ghost, eh Fenton. Not surprising with the name of the camp.”

“Shut it, Weston.”

“Hello, boys~ Anything interesting you wish to share?”

“Fu-Fudge cakes! No Ms Elena! Sorry, Ms Elena!”

“Do you hear that Dean? They called me Miss! How cute.”

“Hmmm, I suppose you three saw the ghost child in the forest?”

“Wha- How-”

“Our fam has been running Macabre for a decade, we have seen some stuff. There is a reason why the camp is named the way it is. The little one, however, is a newcomer, but he runs from us. Maybe you are special if you can maintain eye contact with him. Now listen to the session, wouldn’t want you campers to get lost because you didn’t know the various activity areas.”

Dean shrugged and walked away from the seated three, dragging her protesting sister away. The words from the calmer sibling were ringing some alarm bells in Danny, an unstable child ghost in the forest and running from the adults. This was not going to be the easy-going bonding camp that was mentioned in the acknowledgement form sent to his parents. He looked to Kwan, pale-faced at the news of the ghost, and then to Wes, blank-faced and buffing his nails on his tee, then looked back at the child, though only glowing ectoplasm was left where the child was peeking at him. The hunter teen turned to Sam and Tucker, all the way on the opposite end of the Mess Hall, discretely signing their little code for _ghost-forest-patrol-later_. They nodded at him grimly and turned back to the camp map being shown. 

‘Well, at least the next three days wasn’t going to be boring.’ Danny mused.

Once the introductory lecture was over, the students were split into their tent groups and played some of the relaxed activities that were planned for them. Then came dinner time and showering. All the while. CC Dean and Elena have approached Danny, a total of five times, when they found him staring at the forest, at the child ghost they knew were there. The hunter heightened hearing picked up small frantic conversations, about him, between Elena, Dean and the other counsellors: patrol routes, more checking of the tents, sending the students for Lights Out earlier.

The giant clock struck 5 PM, the tired campers sighed in relief. Next on the agenda was staggered shower times and dinner, before they could finally be with their friends. When Danny met with Sam and Tucker, the former’s skin a new shade of sunburnt, in a little corner near the shore watching the setting sun. 

“What have you found out, Tuck?”

“Five years back, a child by the name of Alex was reported missing by his parents after they came for a camping trip here. No results after searching. What do you know?”

“Nothing good, his form is unstable but I should be able to help as Phantom. He also said something but I couldn’t hear with the noise of the lecture.”

“A boy ghost about aged seven, with green and dripping skin, right? He came to me just now, when I was alone. I could only understand a few words of the ghost speak.”

“What did he say, Sam?”

“Uh, he said Help, Bones, and something else I can’t remember.”

“Yeah, that isn’t good. It’s going to be difficult for my patrol-”

“Why?”

“The counsellor saw Kwan, Weston and I distracted by the ghost boy during the lecture. They think we may wander so they are raising the checking rate. Wes is going to be difficult too, still set on exposing me as Phantom.”

The clock struck 7 PM, and the counsellors came and rounded up campers for the dinner and campfire night. Sat around a roaring fire, the counsellors led some sing-a-longs and exchanged scary stories deep into the night. Despite everything, Danny felt it was a really fun time and the stars were really shining. When lights out came, the exhausted campers dragged themselves into their various tents. Danny took one last look at the forest, seeing nothing and releasing a big yawn, he crawled into his shared tents with Kwan and Weston. He groaned when he processed the position of his sleeping bag, prompting a soft ‘shut up’ from Wes. Curse his curiosity of Alex, now he has to sleep in between the gangly-limbed Wes and space heater Kwan, which is not going to help his artificial ice core. He crawled into place, zipping their tent close and the world went black even before his head hit the still unpacked sleeping bag.

There was something dripping on him. Why is something dripping on him? What is dripping on him? Why is so hot? Who in the Ancients is shaking him? Danny opened an eye and squinted at the glowing, ectoplasm dripping figure floating above him. Oh right, he was supposed to go for patrol, what time was it now? He tried to reach for his phone, only to register his arms and legs were pinned down by two other pairs of limbs.

“Ughhh, it’s way too early for this stuff. Hey, ghostie, is your name Alex?”

“What the fuck, Fenton?!”

The ghost ‘nodded’ dripping more ectoplasm onto the trio. Kwan whimpered into Danny’s shoulder, - _well that explains both the heat and the shaking, Kwan and his stupidly high body temperature_ \- In the hunter’s peripherals, Weston, who was also hugging him tightly, looked like he was going to puke.

“Okay, what do you want?”

"҉͘͟Y̵̧̡͠o͟͡u͏̸ ͟͝a̸̴̛̛ ̡҉̛͠҉g̶̵̛͜͟h̶̡̡͘͝o͞͏͜͢͠s̴͟t͡͏͟ ̵͟͞t͏̕͡͠o̷̶̧͟ơ̶͟͠͞?̵͢͢ ̧̕͡H̷͜e͘͢͢͡l͟҉̶̵͠p҉̢ ͠͏͝m̴̶e̷͡-̷͝"͡҉ (You a ghost too? Help me-)

“T-t-t-those a-a-a-aren’t w-w-w-words.”

“Shush, Kwan. Alex, I figured as much, if I help you, will us leave us alone?”

The ghost nodded again. Wes and Kwan were pretty much using Danny as a stress ball with how hard they were squeezing him.

“Good morning~ Wakey wakey!”

Their new acquaintance, Alex, jerked away at the voice and exploded, showering the tent-mates with ectoplasm, Just then, a counsellor, who was not Dean or Elena, poked his head in to see the three Juniors huddled in the corner, covered in glowing green stuff.

“Ghost child came for a visit, huh boys.”

“Ughhhh, Let me go back to sleep.”

“Sorry boys, going to have to decontaminate you and your belongings. You will be shifted for tonight and tomorrow. Come on now, the others will handle your things and the tent.”

“Oh, butter biscuits. Wow, Vlad is rubbing off on me. Wes! Hey! **Pu** **t me down!** ”

Danny was unceremoniously brought out of the tent, held very awkwardly by one Wesley Weston, then immediately thrown over the Kwan’s shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He could feel the eyes staring at the three of them as they, well the two ectoplasm covered jocks and an equally covered him as an unfortunate package, followed the counsellor to wherever they needed to go. He was pretty sure that his face is extremely red, sunburn aside, but could not really tell with the green sludge covered his vision. The ghost boy was carried for what seemed like hours-

“Don’t be dramatic, Fenton, it has only been 10 minutes.”

Ahem, for what seems like hours, before he was gingerly situated on a tiled floor. The room, after Danny wiped the ectoplasm covering his eyes, was just like the decontamination suite that his parents have in their lab. There was a reader showing how ecto-radiated they were near the door and a high-pressure shower towards his right.

“Mr Fenton, your ectoplasm level-”

“Is perfectly normal with my parents being ghost hunters and constantly absorbing ambient ectoplasm. I’m going to wash this off. No- no- stay away, Wes. Shut up.”

Danny turned and marched away to the shower. He would usually phase off or absorb the ectoplasm but could not do so with the counsellors, Kwan and Wes being in the same room. He turned the shower dials to the highest temperature, that he core could handle, and blasted a small beam of ice at the floor to get the steam going. Once the frosted glass was fogged to his satisfaction, he pulled the most of the ectoplasm into himself, directing it to feed his blue gemstone situated in the centre of his sternum, the artificial core he made with Phantom’s help. He removed his clothes and stepped into the shower, still holding on the clothes, and adjusting the dials to the highest pressure. Dropping the soaked clothes onto the floor, he worked through the decontamination routine, practically drilled into his brain, ignoring the pain as the water hit against his sunburnt skin. 

A few minutes later, he stepped out with his soaked clothes, dumping them into the hamper to give an impression he washed the ectoplasm off his body and clothes. He donned the fluffy bathrobe that was already set aside, making sure to cover the crystal embedded in his chest, and walked out of the shower with a stretch. He grinned at Kwan and Wes, with the ectoplasm soaked towels at their feet.

“So, who’s next?”

A few hours passed while the three, freshly decontaminated, tent-mates stayed in the isolation room. People dressed in protective garb walked in and out, bringing them food, checking their vitals, and asking questions. How are you feeling? What did the ghost child want? Why did he go to you? So on so forth. Danny ignored them all, walked over to the bed furthest away from the door, pulled the blanket over his head and promptly fell asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ POV Switch: Wes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hmmmpghds, wha? What happened?”

“You slept deep dude. Its lunchtime. Your clothes are beside you. Now come on, your ‘Alex’ has appeared again. They want you to talk to it.”

“ _Why?_ ”

“Don’t whine at me, Fenton. Why? Because Kwan told them it answered to you. Now get dressed before I do it for you.”

“Okay okay, sheesh.”

Wes watched Danny released the pillow he threw and groggily grabbed his clothes from the bedside tables and disappeared under the blankets. A few minutes of blanket wriggling, the ghost freak - _just you wait, Fenton, I’ll expose you as Phantom_ \- emerged fully dressed with a ridiculously adorable -W _ait, no. Not adorable._ \- bedhead. The basketballer shook his head and turned away, the ghost child must be messing with his mind. He looked at the door, at Kwan, who was staring at Fenton with incredulity from the bed nearest to the door. He sighed and turned back to Fenton, who miraculously contorted his body into a pretzel and fell asleep again.

“How in the fuck? Kwan? I think you may need to carry Fenton again.”

“That….. looks uncomfortable. How is he sleeping like that?”

“I don’t know but I don’t want to break something trying to untangle t _hat._ ”

“Yeah, okay. Where did the counsellors want us to go again?”

Kwan carefully picked up the sleeping boy and followed the basketballer out of the isolation room. They walked over to the stated location, a cordoned off activity area with the ghost child stuck in a salt circle. It looked hysterical, which should be impossible as ghost can’t feel emotions. It kept bumping its limbs against the border and releasing the static-y and echoey sound. Elena and Dean came and met them halfway, looking exasperated to see the sleeping pretzel. They pointed to the circle marked to place Danny, the goth girl and boy that constantly follows the half-ghost were already seated near the trapped ghost.

“Know matter how hard we tried, Ms Manson and Mr Foley won’t leave until they have seen Mr Fenton.”

Kwan shuffled over to the marked area, placed the loser onto the floor and immediately ran back to the safety of the counsellors. A crowd was beginning to form outside the cordon. The trapped ghost stopped whatever it was doing and stared at Fenton, reaching out a dripping and getting blocked by the salt barrier. This is it, he can prove that Phantom and Fenton were the same person once and for all. Wes reached for his phone and brought up the translation app for the Ghost Speak that he knows will happen. E

Everyone watched as Sam and Tucker gently un-pretzeled Fenton and rouse him from his sleep. The sleepy boy greeted his two friends with garbled words and sat up to stare unblinkingly at Alex. The audience continued to watch Danny not processing the visual of the dripping ghost child in front of him. A disjointed sound emerged from the woken boy’s throat. Wes looked down at the translation app, incredulous at the result.

“Hello? That mess of a noise was a hello?”

A similar sound came from the trapped ghost, the translation was a variation of Hello. His words seemed to gain the attention of the A-Listers And the counsellors.

“Fenton is really talking with a ghost huh. HA! I knew it. He and Danny fucking Phantom are the same person!”

Another mess of noise, though longer. The app read: ‘Weston shut up. Let me talk.’

“Oh, eff you, Fenton!”

A new batch of noises, the app translated: ‘I no like him, he noisy.’ from the ghost child, and ‘I know, Alex, he is.’ from Fenton. Another string for static and a beep, Kwan read out the text:

“ ’ _It hurts, must find baby sis_ ’ Why-- oh shit. _‘Papa hurt, save sis from Papa._ ’ Holy shit, dude.”

Fenton looked significantly more awake at those words, he was also very visibly angry, which struck a chord of fear in Wes. He turned to the crowd, eyes glowing a familiar shade of green. Oh lord, he is standing now. Correction, he is floating over to the crowd, that is terrifying. A blue form shot across the field and attached itself to Fenton’s back. How did he escape the- oh, Manson broke the salt circle, and now she and Foley are walking over.

“Alex, do you remember where you and Sandra were?”

The same static-y noise from the ghost child.

“Mr Fen-”

“The forest? Okay, let’s make you not-so-puddle first before going into the forest.”

“Wait, Mr Fenton, now hold on!”

“Reeellllaaaax~, I know what I’m doing. Is Jan on the way?”

“Stop lying, you are Pha-”

Wes fell silent, dropping his phone onto the floor, when a green blade appeared out of thin air and slashed downwards, revealing a familiar swirling green portal. Phantom popped his head out and stared at everyone, then floated out carrying a metallic briefcase and knapsack. Some girls squealed at the sight of the town hero, while the counsellors got even paler. The ghost boy stopped in front Fenton and handed over the briefcase, screeching at the strange language with the ghost child. Fenton mentioned something about a table and one was made from ice, shot out from his own hand. Alex was then detached from Fenton and placed onto the table, significantly more puddle-like than when he was trapped in the salt circle. The metallic briefcase set beside and unlatched, exposing vials of green goo and an injection needle. 

“Okay, everything looks good. Alex, I’m first going to look for your core and inject this somewhat close to it. Then I need you to drink this vial of concentrated ectoplasm. _Hey, hey_ , I know it sounds scary but you won’t be able to find Sandra if you become a puddle. Okay, okay, no needle, no needle. Ssshhhhh stop crying.”

Phantom let out a series of screeches that left the three freaks looking perplexed. Wes snapped his head down to his phone on the floor, wanted to read the translation, only to see the black screen absolutely shattered. His attention was then drawn away with some clattering, watching as Fenton brought out a long tube, with a valve in the middle, and some sort of pump from the knapsack. He attached one end of the tube to Phantom and the other to the ectoplasmic puddle that was Alex, connecting the valve to the pump. The basketballer and the crowd watched with various expressions as green was pumped out of Phantom’s chest and into the puddle.

As if he was a balloon, the puddle began to ripple, bubble and expand, into a normal child, with the exception of blue skin and flaming hair, sat swinging his legs. Fenton clapped and quickly, but gently, detaching and keeping the tube and the pump. He placed a peck on Phantom’s lips and handed the newly form boy the vial of concentrated ghost goo. Woah, who knew a ghost could make such convincing goo-goo eyes, at Fenton no less.

“Drink this too. Atta boy, Phantom can show you some ghost sweets when you two are safely in the Ghost Zone.”

“I̢̡s̢͘ t̷h̴̸͜ę ͞g͘ho͞st̡̨̛ ̡͞z̸̢o̴̧ne ̛̛r҉͢e͞a͟͟l҉l̢y̷͡ ̧ti̶̢n̕y̵?̶ ͞I҉͝ ҉̸d͏͏o̶n͟'҉̨҉ţ l͏̨͢įk̵e ͢ţin͡y͘ ̛͏p̵̸̡l̶͜a̵̢c̢̨ę̧s̢”

“Uh, no. The Ghost Zone is gigantic. Shall we go find Sandra now?”

“ **Catcher in the Rye! I think not, no one will be going into the forest!** Alex can show the way to the counsellors. Mr Fenton, Mr Foley and Ms Manson are to stay in the campgrounds.”

Alex then shot a beam of ecto-ray at the counsellors and Mr Lancer, hissing and screeching.

“Hmmm, you don’t need to understand Ghost Speak to know Alex is rejecting that notion. How about a counter-offer? Let the professional handle the ghost, exempt us from the activities. Sam and I stay at campground providing updates while Danny and Phantom comb the forest with Alex.”

The counsellors and Mr Lancer fell silent as Fenton tapped thrice on his chest. With a flicker of blue streaks, the casual clothes he originally wore was replaced with a signature black-and-white hazmat suit, with snowflakes spiralling out from the blue snowflake-shaped gem was embedded into his chest. His black hair was held down by a crown of ice; His eyes were just blue, no sclera, irises or pupils, just blue. Phantom and Fenton were supposed to be the same, weren’t they? So, what was with the different forms?

“Ah, I’ll never get tired of that, babe.”

“Oh, hush, darling~. Job first, flirt later. Also, Wes. I feel like I should tell you, Jan and I were never the same person. He was just a ghost who shared my body during the first year. Like a parasite.”

“Love you too darling. Tuck, Sam, how’s the charges?”

“Thundery showers imminent, I’ll charge with that. Sam?”

“Will charge being near the forest, so I’m cool”

Then, Manson twisted the purple rose on her choker and Foley clicked his two wrist braces together. Their clothes were also changed into the same black-and-white hazmat suits but with differing designs. The goth girl had green vines for the accents, centralizing from the gemstone rose on her neck. Once violet eyes turned into pure green sclera with rose-shaped irises. She held out a hand, palm facing down, the plants beneath her feet shivered and grew exponentially to wrap themselves around the limb. She let out a hum, scratchy and echoey like Ghost Speak, and the plants withered away. For the technogeek, lightning was his accents. It snapped across the black hazmat like how the originally moved through the clouds. His glasses were gone, showcasing the black and green vortex that became his eyes. Electricity danced across his, surprisingly fit-looking, body and between his fingers. Thunder roared in the distance as dark clouds swarmed and covered the mid-afternoon sun.

“Counter-counter offer: Danny stays at camp, I search above the canopy, Phantom and Sam through the forest. The spa҉r͝ks̛͢҉ are singing in my veins.”

The crowd watched as the other three gave a nod to the technogeek, and he shot to the skies, straight into the rain clouds. Phantom held on to Alex and flew into the forest with Manson. With a wave of Fenton’s hand, the ice table and all the equipment disappeared. Then he turned to the crowd, sending a chill down Wes’s, and pretty much everyone else’s, spine.

“Now, we wait for some news.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ POV Switch: Fenton ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rain poured down in a torrent, sending the campers, teachers and counsellors scrambling for shelter. The scheduled activities were effectively cancelled. Danny, to hide from the barrage of questions, took refuge on the ceiling struts of the Main Hall. A flash of lightning struck the ground, and Tucker stood on the charred spot, thunder that followed boomed so loudly that it shook the foundations of the building. His electrically charged friend walked in and floated up to meet him. Sam came in soon after in a whirlwind of petals, scaring the A-listers. They had dinner and they gave him the updates.

Soon enough, the torrential pour faded into a light drizzle. Lights out came and the other campers were reluctantly herded off to their moved tents. To prevent anyone, that isn’t them, from attempting to go into the forest, Sam had called up a wall of thorny vines to surround the camp. Now, Danny soared through the forest, intending to check out the information given. A clearing, thick with some energy that kept repelling Sam and Tucker, and they could not contact Janus. He phased in and out of tree trunks and branches until he registered two voices in the distance, where the clearing was. Looks like Phantom found the clearing. He came up beside the other two, the clearing was there as described but there was some form of ghost shield that prevented them from entering.

“They aren’t a ghost? But they feel like ghosts, like me, why?”

“Sam, Tucker and Danny, are special. They are humans with a ghost core. Oh, here comes Danny. Hi, babe.”

“So what’s up with this place. I can see a pile of bones in there.”

“That’s my bones. Can’t go in. Need for sis.”

“Oh yeah, Tucker told me Sandra is alive. Your sister is safe. He will talk to Sandra and see if she wants to meet you.”

“Papa and Mama?”

“We don’t know. Can’t find anything. Hmm, I see something under the bones, I wonder. Phantom go get your medallion, Alex please get a counsellor, whichever one you are comfortable bringing, and bring them here. Sam and Tucker too.”

Danny reverted back to his ‘human’ form and waited for Janus to put on the human medallion. Alex flew away as instructed. His boyfriend, now with brown hair, hazel eyes and without the ghostly glow, walked past the shield with him. They stopped in front of the pile of bones half-buried.

“So, it’s an ecto-shield? Why would someone put it here?”

“Love, there is something bad here. Everything is screaming for me to run.”

“Yeah, me too. Let’s get the bones and skedaddle.”

As soon as both of them touched the bones, they were bombarded with agony and fear. Alex’s memory flashed past his eyes:

The be _atings by who the Junior student assumed to be the parents, getting locked in some dark and small space, sister screaming, days spent in the hospital, father paying off the authorities to ignore them, pain, pain._ Pain. Dann _y watched in horror as Sandra, a mere toddler_ _then_ _, was tossed into a wall, Alex and Sandra being burned with cigarettes or cut by broken shards of glass bottles. Bones cracking rang in his ears, shouting matches, Sandra crying, Alex crying,_ _ **he**_ _is crying._

**E** _**verything hurts! Make it stop!** _ _ **It’s scary!** _ _**MAKE IT STOP!** _

_The…. forest? Oh yeah, Papa dragged him into the forest. Mama is hitting Sandra again, like Papa hitting him. Why is the grass turning red? What is Papa saying? Why is he walking away? Sandra is still crying. Don’t leave me! Papa? Mama? Come back, please. I feel sleepy, maybe Mama and Papa will come back later._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ POV Switch: Sam & Tucker ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Oh shit. Oh fuck. Danny! Janus! Why is blood coming out from them?”

“Better question, who in the fuck puts a fucking curse on the bones!? Dean! Elena! Mr Lancer! We can’t enter the shield!”

Dean grabbed onto Janus and Elena grabbed on to Danny, trying to pull them away from the bones. The glowing sigil on the floor faded away as bones wriggled free. Thickened globs of ectoplasm and blood oozed out of their various orifices, as the couple dropped into a violent seizure. The ecto-shield eventually fizzled away, allowing Sam, Tucker and Alex to finally enter the clearing. After a few minutes past, though it seemed like an hour, Danny and Janus somehow twisted themselves onto their stomachs and started coughing out more globs of body fluid. After another few minutes, Janus managed to push himself up onto all fours, slipping occasionally on the pool of ectoplasm still growing beneath him, while Danny was still laying on his front.

“Well, that was a f͘u̵c͜ki̢͏̢n͡g ̡͢҉n҉̨i̷̢̛gh̢t̵̕m̡a̛͡re̷ -”

“Yup, 10 out of 10 would _not_ do it again, Fuck my head and the blood in my lungs.”

“Danny? Janus?”

“Wait, the other boy is Phantom?!”

“Tucker? Did you find out what happened to the parents?!”

“Jailed for domestic and child abuse. Father was also charged as a suspect for murder but no conclusive evidence was found. On the plus side, Sandra is getting help from her foster family.”

“NO CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE?! MOTHERFUCKER WAS THE FUCKING MURDERER! REPORTING LOST MY ASS!”

“Mr Phantom. Calm down. What do you mean?”

“What do you think-” Danny coughed out another congealed ball of blood,“ _oh that is interesting-_ he meant? It was exactly what he said.”

“Dude murdered his own son, reported him as lost to cover the tracks? Probably is some sort of cult deal with the whole shield and curse bones deal.”

“Never mind that, Sam, someone please take off the damn medallion, I can’t feel my powers, nor can I feel any of my limbs.”

“I can’t move, can one of you make me intangible to get the blood out of my lungs and skull? I think I cracked my core, powers shorted out.”

“Core? I thought only ghosts have a core.”

“Thanks, Tuck. Nevermind that, Mr Lancer. Alex? Got your bones, we’ll get this properly buried. Is Sandra willing to meet?”

“Yup.”

“Ughhhh, I’m gonna be sick. Everything is spinning. Last time I am wearing the freaking medallion.”

“And there is the sun, ugghhhh, I just want to sleep. Can I not participate in activities for the rest of the day?”

“Need to fix your core first, sleep in the Ghost Zone.

“Can’t, too much blood loss. Take the core and give it back later when you need to bring Alex to the Zone.”

With a heave, Danny flipped himself to his back and pushed himself into a seated position. He removed, with much difficulty, his blood-soaked shirt, revealing a fractured blue snowflake on his chest. Sam, Tucker and Janus flinched while Danny released a huge sigh at the sight. The ghost boy reached onto the latter’s chest, detaching the broken pieces, and disappearing in a helix of green.

“Well, time to go back to camp. But, I don’t think I can walk now.”

Letting out a sigh, Tucker knelt in front of his reckless friend and pulled him onto his back. He nodded and grinned at the gaping counsellors and the English teacher; and disappeared into a strike of lightning, even though there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky. Sam gathered the bones and snapped her fingers, the plants in the clearing grew exponentially, absorbing the blood and ectoplasm, before returning to their slightly overgrown and messy state. She turned to look at the adults, gave the same parting nod, and exploded into a pile of flower petals.

“ _Rosemary and Rue_ , why can’t those three just stop with the dramatics.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ POV Switch: The Juniors ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back at the campsite, the campers, teachers and remaining counsellor jumped at the sudden thunder that rang through the camp. Floating above the charred floor was Foley, carrying a bloody and pallid Fenton unconscious on his shoulder. A few minutes later, a giant peony sprouted, bloomed and withered beside him, leaving behind the Manson - _Why is she carrying bones?!_ \- A counsellor sprinted forward toward the tech loser, chattered something, and guided the boys to the main hall, probably the infirmary. Everyone froze in their places, staring at building then turning their attention to the idle goth girl. Manson swayed for a while as if stuck in a trance, her hair fluttering with non-existent wind. She then floated over to the wall of thorns that blocked the entrance to the forest and clapped her hand three times. With a rustle, the thorns retreated and out came tumbling the English teacher, the two other camp counsellor, and the ghost child, Alex. Manson swayed again, stopped and spoke with Alex, and flew to the main hall with the ghost child following her.

The giant clock struck 7 PM, it has been hours since the loser trio -can they even be called the losers anymore?- and Alex disappeared into the Main Hall. Phantom had somehow appeared out of nowhere and disappeared into the same building, much to the A-lister’s disappointment. Seeing no drama, everyone went about their ways according to the schedule. Kwan and Wes were allowed in to visit their ‘teammate’, then promptly carried out of the door by a deadpan Phantom.

9 PM was when they finally walked out of the infirmary door, looking like how they used to. Fenton looked much better than when he was brought in, though his eyes were still completely blue. The freaky group, with Mr Lancer and camp counsellors, Dean and Elena, walked to the camp’s entrance and met with a family. Since it was free time, the Juniors inched closer to the meeting. Alex was being carried by Phantom, the former hiding his face into the latter’s shoulder. The freaky Trio shook hands with the new adults, Fenton spending more time on the wheelchair-bound little girl that came with them. She had a series of small scars all around her body, a long scar wrapping around from her hairline all the way to her neck and a missing leg.

“-meet you. Thank you for coming.”

“Alex?”

“He's just over there with the floating one. Are you ready to see your brother again?”

Oh, so that was the sister mentioned yesterday. She wheeled herself over to Phantom and waited while looking at him. The ghost hero detached the clinging ghost child, with a lot of difficulty seeing as he was struggling, and position the latter in front of the girl. Upon seeing each other, both children broke into tears, clinging tightly to one another. They kept hugging, rambling incoherently and crying, somehow passing on the waterworks to the crowd watching their reunion. However, some of the fans, read: Paulina and Dash, took the chance to sneak up to the ghost hero, but was thwarted when Phantom floated over to the loser trio and the new adults, including some police officers from Amity Park. Foley and Manson spoke with the parents then walked over to the children. The technogeek whispered something to the both of them, stopping the waterworks almost immediately and all three broke into a smile. Fenton broke away from the conversation and turned to the two and the children as if sensing some shenanigans that were about to happen.

With that, Manson and Foley transformed into the ghostly versions, unbuckled the safety belts on the wheelchair, and carried Sandra off into the sky, Alex following behind with a bright laugh. The crowd focused their attention back to Fenton, who had reintegrated himself into the conversation by arguing with the police, Phantom supporting him fervently. With a flash of light, much brighter now that it was late in the night, ghost Fenton floats with an indescribable scary expression on his face. The police officers, shocked to the ground, trembled visibly at the sight of the youngest Fenton. The ghost duo placed a hand on an officer’s forehead and every single person jumped as the four chosen officers went pale and suddenly screamed in pure agony and fear. What was happening? What the fuck were they doing?

When the two finally removed their palms, two of the officers vomited and cried, one fainted and the last one was shaking uncontrollably; the remaining two officers, who did not go through whatever that experience was, paled at the sight of their teammates. Just then, Manson and Foley returned with the two children, both chattering quickly and excitedly; though Sandra had to constantly look down at the phone in her hand. The older duo swung their attention from Fenton to the hysteric police and back to Phantom, then simply shrugged and transformed back to normal.

Fenton and Phantom left the adults and floated over the children with a solemn expression. They spoke to the children and from the crowd’s position, they could see Sandra’s face fall, she looked at Alex and shook her head vigorously at the older boys. The crowd could not hear what she was saying, but she seemed desperate and unwilling as she held on tightly to her brother’s hand. More words were exchanged and the recovering girl jerked and started to sob. Fenton pulled her into a hug, silently stroking her back as she cried her heart out, while Phantom did the same with Alex.

After some time, the crowd much thinner then the beginning, so the crowd moved closer into hearing range. Sandra and Alex calmed down, Fenton setting the girl back onto her wheelchair. The two siblings gave each other a tight hug and the girl gave a nod to the older ghost boys. With a flare, a glowing cutlass of black and green swirls appeared in Phantom’s hand, which was ridiculously flashy but still really awesome. He pointed the blade to the sky, muttered under his breath and made a slashed in a downward arc tearing a rift open. Fenton, standing beside Phantom, shot a beam of light at the rift, the swirling greens of the ghost portal blended into a deep and brilliant blue, white sparkles glimmered in the wide expanse. Everyone wow-ed at the display. The otherworldly blade then disappeared with a wave of his hand. He turned back to Alex gave a sad smile. _Oh, the ghost child needs to leave._

“Why not give something to your sister? I taught you how to make things with ectoplasm right?”

Alex blinked multiple times then lit up like a lightbulb, both metaphorically and literally. He clasped his hands together, closed his eyes and stuck his tongue out in concentration. After a few second, he placed something on Sandra’s lap, pushed her wheelchair over to her foster parents. He gave her one last hug and a kiss on her cheek, giving hugs to the foster parents.

“Please take care of Sandy! Bye-bye now.”

He then flew to hug Manson, Foley, Dean and Elena; The camp counsellors were crying into the hug. Lastly, he flew to stand between Fenton and Phantom, the older ghosts murmuring something to the younger and ruffling his hair affectionately. Alex gave one last wave to his sister, Fenton gesturing to her for the phone in her hand and the three ghosts disappeared into the rapidly closing portal.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ POV Switch: Sandra ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sandra watched as the portal stitched closed, leaving the air unblemished as it once was. The phone vibrated in her hand and she looked down to see a messaged with a photo. The photo was a selfie of her brother looking in awe the something off-screen while holding the hand of the green eye person smiling at him. The blue eye person winking at the camera from the bottom left of the screen, holding up a pinky.

‘ _We will take care of him, pinky promise.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Danny, Sam and Tucker are faux!halfas. Danny somehow was able to replicate a basic ghost core with the ghost allies’ help. Sam, Tucker and him are the only ones with the fake core, and with spending enough time under ‘mentorship’ of other element-focused ghosts, it further developed into an elemental core. Undergrowth for Sam (Nature core), Vortex for Tucker (Weather core, mainly electricity), Far Frozen for Danny (Ice core).


	4. Week 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A break-in at a family diner. What could be so valuable as to warrant such an attack? What happens when Danny discovers a mysterious secret buried behind the ashes of the Fenton Family Diner?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to MythicalDorito on discord for an original idea of a murder-mystery but I veered way off-track. Surprisingly for this one, Phantom does not have a first name. Also, there are no ghost hunters in this universe, Phantom is the only ‘ghost’ they meet.

“ _Good Morning Amity Park, I’m Lance Thunder, reporting from the wreckage of the Fenton Family Diner. Earlier this morning, the authorities were alerted of a roaring blaze that engulfed the popular diner, second to the fast-food chain and teenage haunt, Nasty Burger. Was this a product of a costly safety lapse or the cruel work of some arsonist? Oh, look! There are the owners, let’s go interview them. Mr Fenton! Over here!”_

The TV flickered shut, showing a reflection of three shocked faces. Danny leaned back on his bean bag chair and stared that the opulent ceiling of the gaming room in the Manson Mansion. He could hear his friend calling for his attention but he can’t bring himself to react. The diner was gone, what was going to happen to their family now? The diner was one of the constants in his life, already there even before he and his sister were born. He helped his parents by working part-time, be it in the kitchen or serving the patrons. Heck, even the A-listers were much nicer to him when he is working, though it was mostly with pity, rich as they are.

“-ny. Danny!”

“Ow! Sam! What was that for!?”

“You weren’t responding to us and your phone is ringing.”

“Oh, right. Hello? Jazz? Yeah...”

Sam and Tucker sat back at their respective seat and watched their friend got up from his beanbag chair and paced the room. The news was certainly shocking, especially since the Fentons were having their monthly ‘Family Day’ and has closed the Diner for the day. It was the reason why Danny was free to spend the morning with both of them, then he would spend the rest of the day with his family. Tucker pulled up the SecuCam app on his PDA, keyed in the passcode that Danny had given to him, and hooked it up to the giant flat-screen TV, setting it to play at thrice the speed.

“Hey, Danny? You might want to see this.”

In the playback, at 1 AM, several masked individuals broke into the diner, destroyed the alarm systems and ransacked the place before setting the place on fire. Why would a bunch robbers break into the diner? And not even touch the cash registers? What were they looking for? They were also kicking and hacking away at the floor at various points of the diner. Well, at least there weren’t any casualties and the Fentons would be reimbursed with insurance.

“Hello, Jazz? Tell mom and dad to report to the police for arson. Check the cam footage if you don’t believe me. No, no, check the app on the phone! Fine, I’m coming home.”

Danny rushed to pack his belongings, phone supported between his ear and his shoulder. He gave an over-the-shoulder thank you and goodbye to his friends and ran out of the room.

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [Later that night] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

“ _Good Evening Amity Park, it’s time for the evening new. Earlier this morning, the authorities were alerted of a roaring blaze that engulfed the popular diner, second to the fast-food chain and teenage haunt, Nasty Burger. After further investigation from the police, as well as new evidence from the security footage given to us, courtesy from the Fentons. Let’s take a look at the evidence.”_

“Good going Dann-o! If it weren’t for you telling us about the phone app, we would be done for!”

“Yeah, thank Tucker for that actually. He made the app with the cameras you made for the diner though they were rejected by the council.”

“Oh yes, we would need to give him a gift! He likes chocolate chip cookies right?”

“Mom? Dad?”

“Yes, Jazzy-pants?”

“What is buried under the diner? Why would the robbers focus on the floor if there isn’t anything under there?”

“ _We do not know the motives of the robbers as of yet, if anyone has information on the robber and the arson, please proceed to Amity Park Police Department and aid the investigation. Now, on to Anthony for the Sports.”_

“Hmmm, when we bought the land, the agent mentioned something peculiar but your father and I never thought much of it. They mentioned some murder mystery case that was never solved era’s ago, something about a King’s tomb. Maybe it was about that?”

“Hmmm.”

“Well, your father and I will have to go down to the insurance agency to get our payment. And we will need to find a way to rebuild the place. Danny, you are going to have to find another part-time job for this period. Finish your homework and go to sleep children.”

“Okay. Night mom. Night dad.”

The two children walked up the staircase and disappeared into their rooms, while the adults stayed into the living room speaking in hushed tones and cleaning up the mess that was their dinner. Danny threw himself onto his chair and opened his laptop, doing a bit of searching before signing in into the messenger app that he and his friend used frequently.

**[NASALite] has logged in. Say Hi!**

**TF4TooFine** : hey dude

**ChaosSalem** : how did your folks take the news?

**NASALite** : happy that they will be getting an insurance payout. Also, told Jazz and me something interesting. Up for some research?

**ChaosSalem** : never thought I would see you write those word.

**TF4TooFine** : also depends on what they told you.

**NASALite** : ok so, apparently there was a case about some murders that happened there. From what I can see, based on my basic search, multiple corpses were mutilated and dumped in a giant hole that was there. There was something about a King’s tomb as well. Maybe the robbers were after something there

**ChaosSalem** : you think the robbers were after something from that case?

**NASALite** : yup, I feel it. Jazz too.

**TF4TooFine** : what are we waiting for? Let’s get cracking

**ChaosSalem** : hate to break it to you boys, we have school tomorrow. did you finish the work?

**NASALite** : ajkdjds, no. wat is homework.

**TF4TooFine** : I already finished the ones for tomorrow.

**NASALite** : pls

**TF4TooFine** : {shrug.gif}

**ChaosSalem** : {facepalm emoji}

**NASALite** : guys pls. lancer and garcia will kill me.

**ChaosSalem** : lol

**TF4TooFine** : gg lmao do your work, we do the research

**[NASALite] has muted the server.**

Danny groaned some friends he had. He retrieved his homework from his bag and opened another tab to a generic music website on his laptop. Upbeat instruments pulsed throughout his room as he toiled over Mr Lancer’s Literature and Math papers and Ms Garcia’s Chemistry and History papers. Occasionally, the teenager checked in with his friends on the process of the research, giving his two cents here and there. He continued to write equations after equations, history dates and facts and whatever emotion the author implied to feel with his green curtains or whatever.

A few hours later, he was done. Danny stretched, tight joints popping and relaxing. He refreshed the messenger page and jumped when he registered the number of unread messages

**NASALite** : [wtfguys.jpg]

**NASALite** : 1523 messages what the fuck did I miss?

**ChaosSalem** : finally finished time for some juicy details.

**[ChaosSalem] has started a call. Accept?**

**[ Yes ] ** **No**

**[TF4TooFine] has ended a call that lasted 2 hours 25 mins.**

**TF4TooFine** : damn need to sleep, words are blurring

**NASALite** : same

**ChaosSalem** : weaklings. Meet after school to check out the place?

**NASALite** : K

**TF4TooFine** : [thumbs up]

**NASALite** : See yas

**[NASALite] has logged out. {wave emoji}**

**[ChaosSalem] has logged out. {wave emoji}**

**[TF4TooFine] has logged out. {wave emoji}**

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [On a Friday, few weeks later. After school] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

“Well, here it is. I can’t believe it’s really gone.”

“Danny? Are you going to be okay?”

“What can I do? The place has already been cleaned up, the police didn’t even let us in that first day. I’ll be fine.”

“Let’s get to checking. Tucker, do you still have the floor plans? Sam, the séance stuff?”

The two others went ‘yup’, popping the p. The three of them walked around the premises, double-checking and comparing the historical building plan and the newer diner plan that was sent to their phones. Danny walked to a side, circling the outside area where the building once set when his footstep echoed with a metallic clang rather than the dull ‘thud’ of the dirt path.

“Guys? Come over here for a bit! I found something!”

“How come this wasn’t in the diner building plan?”

“Because it isn’t ours. We put the bins here. I don’t think my parents know this existed. Let me call them, call your parents too.”

After 30 minutes, the distinct visage of Danny’s parents came walking down the road, kitted to the nines with heavy backpacks. The other two stared in shock at the two adults as the youngest Fenton facepalmed and groaned.

“Hey, Mr and Mrs F. What ‘cha got there?”

“Oh, some food and granola bars, lots of water, first aid kits; all that like. Since we are going with you.”

“Ha..ha..”

“Let’s just go. I feel people staring at us. Tucker, prepare the drones.”

Using his shoes, Danny scuffed at the ground and revealed a metal trapdoor. He gestured to his father and together they pulled the rusted door open, sand and dirt crumbled into the deep abyss, dusty threads of web pulled and snapped. Madeline, more affectionately named ‘Maddie’, peered down the hole, flashlight shining brightly in her hand.

“There’s a ladder, but it’s as rusty as the door. Wear the gloves in the front pocket of Jack’s bag. I’m going first.”

She donned a mask and begun her descend. Tucker, seeing his cue, set the flying drone to automatic and setting something small on to the floor surrounding the entrance. Small land-surveillance bots, specially made by the technology master of the trio. Sam was next to don a mask and gloves, and also began to descend into the hole, followed by Tucker, Danny and lastly Jack. The metal door closed with a resounding clang, echoing loudly in their ears and down further in the hole.

“Well, here we are. In the probable location of Phantom’s Keep. Where over 30 corpses were found in the cult-like interior and the giant burial hole. It’s giving me the heeby-geebies just being here.”

“You can say that again. Hey, I see a large cave!”

“Woah, it’s cult-y alright. Look at all the symbols and strange writing.”

“It’s Latin.”

“What does it say then, Mr Multi-lingual.”

“That one on the far right says ‘Beware the King’s Wrath, to those with ill intent’. ‘Appease and Bless’ is on the floor. ‘Fear the Phantom’ is right on ahead. What do they mean, I have no-”

“Danny? Are you okay, honey?”

“Something is here, or rather someone. It touched me.”

“Danny-boy?”

“Please don’t hurt me. We aren’t hurt to anyone, we just want to know the reason why someone burnt down our diner. Please, don't hurt us.”

“Danny who are you- _DANNY_!”

Danny with his arms tight by his side, as if pinned by something, started to lift off the floor and floated higher and higher towards the stalactites. Suddenly, he was thrown to the wall. Sam fumbled at the EVP she brought and it flared to life with a crackle.

**G̴̸҉E̶T̷̴̷̵ ͏҉O͞U̸̷̴T͏̕͘͠**

̷̴

**G̛͢͜͠Ȩ͏T̨͜ ̛̕҉O̢͘͟͞͡U̡̧̨̨͞T͢͟**

“Get out? Not until we get our answers!”

Danny jerked suddenly and started to shiver violently. He sat with glowing green irises, the whites of his eyes replaced with red, his head jerking and twitching unnaturally. He opened his mouth and a foreign voice, slightly deeper and more guttural than Danny’s usual, came out

“ _Not you, THEM! THEY BROUGHT ME PAIN”_

He held out a glowing blue hand and clenched his fist, screams erupted from behind the original group. They turned to see glowing masked individuals squirming while floating in the air. Maddie mumbled in awe and fear, something about telekinesis. He moved his arm in a weird flowing motion and thick green rope tied itself around the intruders. Then with a nonchalant flick, they were flung into one of the many stalagmites. Danny -could he still be called Danny?- turned to the other group. Tucker, their designated cameraman for this endeavour, watched in terror as his friend twitched every so often, matted-red blood trailing down from his orifices.

“Danny…?”

“Help me or Get out.”

“Wait! Wait, we will help. But, how?”

“Sun. Cursed. Hurt”

“M-m-maybe release our friend? He is much better at this then we are.”

“Fine”

Danny fell limp with the groan, floating in place was a spectre with white hair and acidic green eye; half its face was gone. It seemed unstable, unable to hold itself together, with limbs forming and separating itself. With a jerk of its head, Danny floated and met with the spectre face-to-face. He blinked in confusion at the other, looking familiar yet not. A small faint object lingered above the unhuman’s head. A crown? A crown!

“You are Phantom? The King that holds the keep?”

‘Phantom’ nodded jerkily.

“Danny! He wants help but English seemed difficult. Use your Latin.”

“I have one better. Ho҉w ̢c̴a̕n h̸elp҉ yo̧u̕, ̶M͏a̴jes̸ty͟?”

““̨͠Y̸̷͞o̡u̡ ͜ş͢͞p̕ea͞͠k̵̨̛-̢””

“͏Y̷͘e͡s̡ ̵͠bu͏t͡ h̨̧͞e͢a̶͠r ̷҉be̶tt̸҉ęr͏͝͝.̴͘ Y͠o̶͠ur̵ ͠͞w̢͏̡i͟s̨h͡?҉”

“̡͞“I̷͞ ̢h͢͠av҉̡̢e b̸͟e̛e̵n̵ ̶̶cų̕r̕se͞d̡,͠ ͜to b̧͡e̴ ̕͞f̴͟o͜͟͡r̡e̸͏͠v̧e͡r͘͏͏ ̨s̛͠t̷̢uc͏̵k̶͟͠ ͘h̕͡͏e̡̛r̷͡e̶.͘ ͟T͘o̴ ̶̢fǫ̛r̸͢e͘v̸e̶̛ŗ҉ ͞͡gųa̵͡r̷d̛ ̶̶̡t̷̛̛h̶e ͏r͢͝içḩ̵e̢̕̕s̴͘ ̴I͏̕ ̴̨c̵̢o͞͡v̡̛e͢t̨̕e̛͘d͜.̢͘ ͏I ҉l͟on͜g ̵f̨ǫ̛r̸̕͠ ͏̶̛t̶h̷͜e̶̡͟ su͡n͞,҉̸ ̕͢I̡͘͠ ̵l͢͠o̶n̵͢g͝ ͟͏f͘͜ơr̨͞ ̴̕f͠reȩ̴d͝o̧͜͞m͝.”

Danny looked at the figure with a pensive gaze, then turned to the younger female of their group. Everyone was looking at both of them with fear and curiousity.

“Sam! How is your Curses 101? Think you can break a curse?”

“Basic at best. I can try, what is the curse?”

“Oh, is it the eternal keep one? I have the curse here.”

“Thanks, Tucker.”

The group poured over the text; the linguist pitching in for one or two lines. The afflicted was more focused on causing pain to the masked individuals, occasionally flitted by and dripped ectoplasm everywhere. After growing bored to playing with his prey, King Phantom took possession of Danny once more.

“Okay, uh Danny and uh, Your Majesty. There are two ways to break the curse. One is painful but not guaranteed. The other is painless and guaranteed.”

“And?”

“The first one will require a large amount of blood and a ritual. It needs to mix with whatever he is – you are dripping.”

The possessed-boy shook his head.

“The second one requires one of your many consorts-”

“But your consort took a large brunt of the curse, and we don’t know where she could be.”

Phantom flew out of Danny’s body and liquefied himself into a corner. The latter shuddered and dropped to the floor. An echoing whine bubbled from the puddle.

“It is said that consort would look identical to how she used to, right? From what I can see, the consort looks very much like a female version Danny. I don’t know how to feel about my son being used as a curse breaker.”

At that revelation, the younger three looked at the portrayal of the curse-breaking consort. She really does look like Danny, though she had a strange flower shaped irises compared… to…

“Oh, her eyes are like mine. Just flowers instead of stars. Wait, I’m the consort?! I’m Daphne Bringer of Spring? Wow, they need to work on the naming.”

“M̧͝y̶̢ ͏̴̛D͘͞aph̸͝n̛͢͞e̡҉?̸̶̴”

“Hold up, what I do need to do?”

“Just four drops of blood into a flower and he needs to consume it. and say this thing I can’t read. But I can’t discern what type it is”

“Oh, that’s easy. Anyone have a knife? The plant is right over there?”

Danny pointed behind and tucked in a little shadowy corner grew a four-petal purple flower. It seemed to have its own luminescence. Danny took the slip of paper containing the spell thing and a knife, before walking over to prod at the mumbling puddle and towards the flower.

‘I release you from your penance, join me once more with the blessing from Thanatos.”

A quick nick on his left ring finger, and four drops of blood later. The consumed flower returned Phantom’s to his original form, regal and complete. The blazing crown frosted over with icy flowers and he faded away with a genuine smile.

“ _Thank you. My riches_ _are yours._

**Author's Note:**

> For Johnny 13 & Lunch Lady  
> I saw in a fic where Johnny 13 called Mrs Manson mom and it stuck ever since (I'll see if I can find it again, it was the one where Phantom got high on some ghost weed).  
> In the show, Tucker also did mention Lunch Lady looking like his grandmother. Now you can pry those headcanons from my cold corpse.


End file.
